PrinceCon XLIII - The Grand Menagerie
Every 200 years, a different god sets the parameters of The Contest between all the continents (including the merfolk and sea-bound races) and bestows wondrous, divine gifts upon the winners. On the first day of Spring this year, heralded by the Aurora, a new contest began. Hione, God of Knowledge, tasked each country with collecting the largest, most diverse, and rarest creatures from around the world, to create the Grand Menagerie.
March 16-18, 2018
Campus Club, Princeton University
Pre-Register Here!
On-site registration and check-in starts at 3 PM
First runs start at 5 PM
Parking in Lot 21
Cost: $25 ($30 on-site), or $10 with college student ID ($15 on-site), or free for Princeton students. Add $45 for a D&D 5th Edition Player’s Handbook if you don’t bring your own.
The Simulation Games Union’s annual convention is a 46-hour marathon of tabletop roleplaying in a shared world, centered around a common goal. PrinceCon uses the D&D 5th Edition core rules, while incorporating ideas for convention play developed over the years by the SGU. Certificates are awarded for Strategic, Tactical and Role Playing excellence.
To learn more about what PrinceCon is, visit the Welcome page. Players and newcomers are invited to join the discussion on Google Groups and Facebook. We will post updates as the theme develops.
Join us on Google Groups - Join us on Facebook
Registration
Pre-registrants will save $5 off on-site registration prices, and be able to create a character in advance. Pre-register here!
On-site registration, t-shirt, and mug sales will be by cash or check only. There is an ATM a short walk away in the Frist campus center.
PrinceCon 43 Downloads
The PrinceCon 43 Con Book is live! It describes the theme, PC creation process, and the custom rules for this year’s con.
For our main rules, we will use the D&D 5th edition Player’s Handbook. We recommend you buy your own from Amazon or your Friendly Local Game Store, but if that’s not an option you can buy one when you register and pick it up when you check in to the convention.
Theme Teaser #1
Hear ye! Hear ye! Let all people throughout the lands hear! Let no on live in ignorance!
The end of the Age of Wonders is at hand. The time of Divine Judgment draws nigh! Great Hione has set The Challenge to usher in the Age of Enlightenment. All peoples are instructed to create a GrandMenagerie , filled with creatures and exhibits to amaze and astound, that all who who witness them will know the Greatness and Glory of Hione.
Our Lords of Whiggam have declared that our homelands must not be outdone this time. Our entry must surpass all others. It is right and fitting that we lead in the Age-To-Come. They order all heroes, adventurers, and soldiers of fortune to gather at Hireling Hall on March 16th at 5 of the clock to further organize stocking The Grand Menagerie.
Hear ye! Hear ye! Tell One! Tell All!
Theme Teaser #2
We did not lose — especially NOT to those tree huggers from the Feron Isles. Still, a close Fifth was not the First place of which the Elves boasted. The Blessing bestowed upon them was incomparable. To think Aru would bequeath those introverts with such long life was an affront to our ancestry. WE, the proud dwarven clerics of The Spirespine Mountains of Eldruent-Vangruldear who helmed the innovation of Regeneration, deserved such a prize! All they did was put a horn on a horse…
For the next two-hundred years, at every Beltine Market, every Masque, those pine-scented Feronites would brag endlessly of their paltry victory. No matter! We would forge ahead. Though the frustration at our ‘misstep’ was palpable for two centuries, at least we weren’t those simpering wretches from Svalden! HA! Producing a spell that Inflicts Wounds instead of curing them… how does an entire continent (however small) mess up that badly? They definitely needed the Fountain of Healing given to them. Too bad it froze over almost immediately and is barely functional — though they’re probably happy last place didn’t constitute a more disastrous ‘prize.’
That Age of Innervation ended when I was 234 years old, and the next Competition began, as usual, with the resounding beauty of The Aurora. The Age of Wonders had begun and, by Daglir, was Eldruent-Vangruldear ready. We built The Greatest Dimaryp with our cumulative generational resolve, earning us First place and the Divine Favor that came with it for the next two-hundred years, befit of our prodigious skill.
~ Rangrim Mountaincarver, Eldurent-Vangruldearan Architect and Anthropologist writing on the transition from The Age of Innervation to The Age of Wonders in his book “Why We Won,” 149 BCA (Before Current Age)
Theme Teaser #3
A PROCLAMATION TO THE CITIZENS OF WHIGGAM
I, Krite Kalliopes, Father of Bronze Dragons, Preeminent Patron of Bards Puissant and Poets Peerless, and Faithful Servant of Hione. the Wise and Knowledgeable, …
Will take up residence at your Princely University from the 16th day until the 18th day of March in the vicinity of the edifice known as Campus Club to hear your most mysterious and miraculous tales of heroism, adventure, magic, and merriment.
Bring only your best unto me, for if these stories please and inspire me, then I, Krites, Lord of Dragons and Most Versant Versifier, will join your Grand Menagerie (of course) as its star attraction, guaranteeing Whiggam will prevail most-staggeringly over the other nations in this vital Contest.
This year we are trying something new at PrinceCon. As part of the theme, there will special runs in which you as Players will be asked to share your roleplaying stories with us. You will gain experience as normal for these runs, and thereby have a chance to further influence the outcome of the overall main storyline.
Sharing stories is what this hobby is really all about. It is how we bond with each other as a community. While we especially want to hear about any experiences in past PrinceCons, you need not feel limited to that. The most important thing is to share an entertaining story that helps us get to know you and how you relate to the game. So think about what you might want to tell; notes are allowed.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
This is our first PrinceCon without Robert (Bob) West, one of the Fathers of PrinceCon and the only one of us to have attended all forty-two of the previous conventions. Stories of Bob in any capacity are eagerly encouraged and will be cherished.
PrinceCon 43 Summaries & Run Recaps:
- PrinceCon 43 Theme Recap
- Journey into Hione's Mind by Aaron Mulder
- Gotta Catch 'em All by Alex Reutter
- The Cave of Wonder by Chris Cavender
- Hugh's scenario recap by Hugh Huntzinger
- Megan's scenario recap by Megan Coppock
- York's scenario recap by York Dobyns